The Story of Emma Andrews

Figures Lurking In The Shadows

Sweet Pea watched the strawberry-blonde girl emerge from her bathroom. He could see she was still shaken from the events. Emma wanted nothing more than to scrub her body clean and rid herself of the past.

Yet, even after a searing hot shower and quietly sobbing into the water in hopes that Sweet Pea couldn't hear her, she was still bothered.

"Emma?" He stood and looked at her.

She stood before him and sighed. Her freak-out earlier had subsided and now all that she was plagued with was fear and paranoia.

"I have to tell you some things."

He eyed her carefully as Emma gestured for him to follow her down the stairs. Fred was out of town for the weekend doing work on her grandfather's cabin in Maine after he received a call from his father-in-law that he had a few odd jobs that he needed help doing.

As much as Emma loved her grandfather, she begged her dad to stay at home than go. Fred was reluctant since it would mean she was alone, but agreed.

Walking into the kitchen, Emma pulled out two mugs and turned on her electric kettle. Sweet Pea watched her take two Advil's for the headache she procured from her sobbing and yelling. It was a sight he had never anticipated seeing, yet he knew this was most likely her PTSD that caused it.

Pouring the hot water into the mugs, Emma placed the kettle down. She sighed looking into the mugs, noting how the tea bags rose.

She found herself attempting to find her voice, but not a sound came out. Simply staring into oblivion, the water slowly turned from clear to a yellowish hue. Once again, Emma found herself fully vulnerable.

This time it wasn't to her safety nets—Cheryl and Kevin. Instead, it was to someone entirely new.

Sweet Pea walked up behind her and placed his hands on either side of her arms. "Little Red?" He had noted that she was deep in thought while she stood motionless.

"I first met Elio at an event his family was hosting..." She breathed out with her back facing him.

***

Emma entered the house alongside her mom and her new co-workers.

The main reason for their attendance was because the Grande's were one of the firm's most promising client and her mother was expected to attend along with her co-workers. Mary smiled at her daughter knowing that she felt like a fish out of water. "Are you okay?"

The strawberry-blonde looked at her mom and nodded, "Not a fan of wearing this monkey suit, but you are lucky I love you." Mary chuckled as the two followed behind two of her mom's friends towards a group of people.

"Oh and this is Mary Andrews, our newest addition to the team." Cecelia, a blonde haired woman gushed as the two woman waltzed over. 

"A pleasure, Mary. I'm Julian Grande and this is my wife, Emily." Mary shook their hands and smiled brightly.

The brunette man pointed to the tall boy besides him, who eyes were trained on the small strawberry-blonde. 

"And this is our son, Elio." Mary shook his hand and turned towards her daughter, "This is Emma, my daughter."

Emma smiled shook their hands, delivering a cordial hello. She could feel the boy's eyes on her, something she couldn't help but blush at.

"Honey," Emily leaned over towards her son, "Why don't you show Emma around?"

He nodded at his mom and extended his hand towards the girl. Looking at her mom, Emma placed her hand in his as he guided her towards the bar.